Port Royal

Port Royal is a small fishing town in Jamaica, located across the Kingston Harbor and Palisadoes from the capital of Kingston. The city was founded by Spain as Caguay in 1509, but the undeveloped town was conquered by England in 1655 after the Spanish colony of Santiago was invaded by English naval forces. The city was once a center of shipping and commerce as the largest city in the Caribbean, and several English and Dutch privateers used the port to raid Spanish treasure fleets and possessions in the Caribbean Sea. After the governments of England and the United Provinces stopped signing letters of marque in the later 16th century, many privateers turned pirate. In 1692, a powerful earthquake destroyed the city, and Port Royal would never fully recover. It became a small fishing village, and Kingston would become the new largest city in the country.